And So We Meet Again Closed

The delicious smell that encased the great hall almost made it rather difficult for Bella to leave, but the excitement of speaking to her friend again was more than enough inspiration. She grabbed one last slice of toast from the table before making her way out of the door and on to the beautiful grounds that surrounded the school. There was a light, early morning breeze and the dew from the grass made the Bella's shoes a little damp, but she didn't mind.

She finished her last bite of the toast and brushed off the crumbs that had formed around her face while looking around for her friend. They had agreed to meet by the lake and as she got closer she could see that Muriel was, in fact, already there, sitting beneath a tree. The grounds were peaceful, certainly quieter than Bella had ever seen them, though she had never really been out here this early. The calm along with the breeze helped Bella to wake up more, she was never really a morning person, and when she finally arrived at the tree her mouth gaped open in awe at the spot Muriel had chosen. It was absolutely beautiful. And just when Bella thought that this place couldn't surprise her anymore.

She gave a wave to Muriel as she approached and smiled warmly as she sat down next to her.
"It really is stunning round here. Even the lake looks calm this morning, it makes me want to swim," She said cheerfully.

Muriel snapped out of her daydreaming from the sound of footsteps making their way towards her. She turned to see Bella coming her way and returned the wave and smile joyfully. She didn’t forget! Muriel thought happily, gladly putting to rest the small idea of doubt that’d formed in her mind. As Bella came to sit next to her, she nodded in agreement with what she was saying.

“It truly is a beautiful place-“ She began, but cut off when Bella mentioned her desire to swim. “Wait, we’re allowed to swim in this lake? Aren’t there rules to it like there is with the Forbidden Forest?” She asked surprised, wondering if they could really just jump in without telling anyone or worrying about anything. Even though the thought sounded wonderful, Muriel couldn’t help but feel a bit wary of what other magical creatures lay beneath the surface. There was already the rumor about merpeople; for all she knew the Loch Ness Monster could also exist and live at the school as well.

“But a swim really does sound nice... I could go for some light exercise.” She murmured, the idea bringing back memories of how she used to go hill-walking with her parents every morning. With that, she turned to look back towards the lake; the sight was so spectacular that she couldn’t seem to take her eyes off of it for too long.

Bella hummed in thought when Muriel asked if they would really be allowed to swim in the lake. She thought that it would likely be a lot of fun, but could also be rather dangerous.
"I'm not sure if we are actually allowed to swim in there, haven't ever asked, but doesn't just looking at it make you wish you could? I suppose there would be some health and safety risks but the same could be said for a lot of things in this school," Bella giggled at that, imagining how they would explain a student being injured after falling from a moving staircase, or being attacked by a statue. Despite the potential dangers Bella found that she couldn't complain about them. Even though she had grown up around magic, there were still new things that she hadn't seen before and she constantly found herself falling more and more in love with this magical world they lived in.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts she looked back upon the calm water of the lake. It was soothing at this time in the morning. Bella got a sudden idea and jumped up from where she was sat against the tree.
"Have you ever skimmed stones before? I used to do it a lot when I was little," Bella said, excited. She leaned down to pick up some flat stones from the ground and walked a little closer to the water's edge, before skimming the first stone perfectly.

“It really is tempting...” Muriel agreed, continuing to stare at the water and think about what Bella said next. The girl had a fair point; there were a lot of things dangerous at Hogwarts. If they allow 11-year-olds to fly on broomsticks several feet into the air, interact with potentially dangerous plants and spells, and learn about some of the most gruesome events in history, what’s stopping us from taking a quick dip in a lake as well? She thought, though still felt it’d be better to ask someone first.

Before she could say anything else on the matter however, Muriel jumped when Bella suddenly rose to her feet. She looked around quickly, trying to see if there was something dangerous nearby, but instead looked back up at her confusingly as the girl began picking up some flat rocks. “Oh, you mean Skipping Stones? My father tried to teach me how to do that when I was little too... but I never caught on to it.” She replied as she watched Bella’s first stone skip across the water flawlessly. “Wow, you’re pretty good though! I guess I’ll give it a try...” She added, picking up a stone of her own and throwing it as far as she could. The stone didn’t fly very far before quickly sinking into the water with a plop.

“...I’ve never had the best throwing arm either...” Muriel said with a light laugh as she twiddled her thumbs a bit embarrassed.

Bella's smile broadened as Muriel rosee to join her at the water's edge. She watched as Muriel picked up her stone and threw it but frowned a little when it just landed straight into the water. Bella chose another of the stones in her hand and turned back to Muriel with a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry about it, it took me ages to learn and my sister always used to laugh at me when it would go wrong. Maybe if you were to bend down a little lower and throw it more upwards?" She purposely slowed a little so that Muriel could see the exact movements before releasing the next stone, this one bouncing more times than the first but not going quite so far.

Bella hoped that Muriel wouldn't be put off by not getting it the first time waited eagerly to see if she would try again. "Try and give a little flick of your wrist at the end as well," Bella spoke with a warm smile, not wanting to come off as arrogant, simply wanting to help her friend succeed, even if it was with something as small as skimming stones across a lake. While waiting to see if Muriel would succeed this time Bella noticed that a few more students had left the hall and the grounds were starting to become a little louder as breakfast evidently came to an end.

Muriel smiled back at Bella, happy that she was trying to help her. She watched Bella as she chose another stone from her hand and noticed how she was holding it before it left her grip and skipped across the water even better than before. “Oh ok, I’ll try all that!” She answered more eagerly than before before picking up another stone. Bella was explaining Skipping Stones a lot better than her father; he’d always tried to make the game very scientific, using words like ‘trajectory’ or ‘angular velocity’ as if it was some physics problem, which made Muriel even more confused each time she tried again.

This time however, Muriel simply copied Bella’s hand position, even though it did feel very strange to use only three fingers. She also bent her knees a little as she prepared to throw the rock and gave her wrist a small flick right before the rock left her hand. All the movements felt very awkward to Muriel, and she wouldn’t be surprised if the rock simply fell into the water again. However, as if by some miracle, the rock managed to do a single skip across the water’s surface before sinking, which caused a huge grin to form across her face.

“I-It worked...! I did it... I DID IT!” She shouted excitedly before doing a few jumps of victory. “I actually did it, I can’t believe it! Can you believe it!?” She asked as she gave out a few more hoots of joy, not caring if she was being over-dramatic nor if the few people arriving onto the grounds gave her a strange look or two.

A huge belly laugh escaped Bella as she saw how happy it was making Muriel to have succeeded, she was very happy that her friend was happy too. She was laughing and smiling so much that her attention wasn't focused on what she was doing and as she attempted to skip the next stone it simply landed straight into the water, making a huge splash and getting the front of her robes wet. This caused her to start laughing even harder and eventually her side started to hurt from laughing so much. She stumbled back to lean against the tree, her eyes clouded with tears of laughter. She couldn't remember a time when she had ever been this happy or laughed this much before and it was a truly amazing feeling.

She sat back on the floor, struggling to control the follow up hiccups from the laughing and looked over to Muriel. She was glad that she had made a friend like Muriel. They had only known each other a little under a day but she would dread to imagine having to walk through the castle alone again or sit by herself on the grounds.
"I'm impressed, you got a pretty good bounce on that one. Maybe you're a natural after all," Bella said with a smile.

Bella’s laughter caused Muriel to start laughing as well, she’d always heard that it was contagious. And as the stone she threw next caused water to splash everywhere, it in turn made her laugh harder as well. As she calmed herself down and waited for Bella to do the same, she stared back out at the water again. Looking at the size of this lake, it seems very possible that a giant squid can live here, and if a squid can, I bet merpeople can as well. Perhaps the rumors aren’t just rumors, maybe they’re all here, just hiding....

Her thoughts were interrupted by Bella as she managed to be able to speak again. “Oh, thanks! But I don’t think ‘natural’ is the right word for me... more like... lucky shot.” She answered with a grin. “...Do you think something might appear if we keep skipping stones?” She asked suddenly, still obsessed with the idea of seeing something surface from the depths of the lake. “I mean... maybe the stones will make something curious and come over, or maybe there are creatures that eat rocks and they’ll come over for more. Or maybe we might tick something off and they’ll arrive to yell at us!” She rambled, wondering if her ideas made any sense. She still didn’t know much about Hogwarts, let alone what any of its creatures were like.

The sudden curiosity-laced seriousness that Muriel showed when she asked if something might appear only shocked Bella a little at first before her own curiosity took over. She had read and heard and been told many things about this lake. The list of creatures that inhabit the deep, dark depths of the restless water is endless so the possibility that at least one of them will be attracted by the stones would be quite high.

"Well a rock eating sea creature wouldn't seem so bizzare here. It would be amazing to actually get to see some of the life in here. Imagine if we see a merperson! Or a Grindylow!" Bella was getting more and more excited the more she thought and the more she spoke. She looked at the rocks still left in her hand before approaching the water's edge again.

"I guess we won't know unless we try," She said back to Muriel. After not being able to go searching for the moaning ghost that Muriel had told her about last night, coming face to face with the all manner of creatures of the lake would surely be an adventure to make up for it. Bella bent her knees a little and threw her next stone, it bouncing three times before splashing into the water a little way out. She turned back to Muriel with an inviting grin. This was going to be exciting.